1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an ornamental and function-enhancing attachment to the pull tab of a slide fastener slider.
2. Background of the Invention
Slide fasteners are used on a wide variety of products such as on jackets, overboots, brief cases, and purses. Slide fasteners comprise a latch member or a set of latch members on each of the edges to be joined. The latch members are brought into engaging or disengaging positions as a result of passage through a slider. A pull tab is attached to the slider for gripping by a person to facilitate the movement of the slider. Typically, pull tabs are hingedly connected to the slider at one end.
In many instances, the conventional pull tab supplied with a product will not adequately perform its functional role of reliable manipulation of the slider. For example, it is often difficult to grasp a pull tab when wearing gloves, such as while skiing or working in the cold. Therefore, it is desirable to attach a grip enhancing and pull enhancing member to a pull tab.
It has been found that augmenting the pull tab with an soft, flexible, tactile attachment allows it to be more easily located and gripped and provides for quicker and easier manipulation of the fastener.
Slide fasteners may be required to have a pleasing appearance. Often flaps of the material joiner cover the latching members and slider so that only the pull tab is visible. In any event, it is therefore often desirable to attach an esthetically pleasing or ornamental member to a conventional pull tab.
Commonly, products bearing slide fasteners are mass produced and are indistinguishable from one another. For example several school children may have identical over-shoes or pencil cases. Therefore, it is desirable to have an identifying member that can be attached to the pull tab to distinguish one's property from another's or one item from another.
Although there is some uniformity in the pull tabs features; pull tabs vary somewhat in size, shape, and surface features, and it is not practical to make an attachment that is specifically designed to accommodate a certain design of pull tab. Therefore, it is additionally desirable to have a tab attachment which satisfies the requirements listed above and which is so constructed that it can accommodate a variety of pull tab designs.
Heretofore, various attempts have been made to construct an attachment directed toward one or more of these objectives. One such proposal is represented by an attachment that locks onto a protuberance or lateral projection on the free end of a pull tab. Such an attachment is, of course, extremely limited in that it can be used only with a specific pull tab design. Another previous form of attachment includes a body of resilient material having a slot for receiving a pull tab. A projection of the resilient material extends into the slot to lock into a hole in the pull tab. Such a device is limited to pull tabs having a hole in a given location. Only a very small range of tab thicknesses and width can be accommodated. Also, the locking projection, being made from the same resilient material as the body, tends to wear and shear with repeated manipulations of the slide fastener resulting in structural failure and disassembly of the attachment from the pull tab.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a pull tab attachment which is soft, flexible, and grip enhancing; which is reasonably universal in that it can be used with a range of tab pull sizes and designs; and which is firmly attached to the pull tab and will not easily be removed or broken.